Portable Light: Energy-harvesting textiles

January 15, 2013

How do you charge your phone or light in your off-grid home at night by simply being in the sun during the day? The Portable Light Projecthttp://portablelight.org/ gives the answer by empowering people in developing countries to create solar textiles that harvest energy from the sun to charge USB 2.0 enabled tools. Flexible thin-film solar cells and batteries are integrated into portable textiles like blankets and bags using local materials and textile craft traditions. Would you like an example? In Nicaragua, rangers working with the conservation organization, Paso Pacifico, hook a solar textile and LED lantern onto their bags by day, and remove it to light their homes at night. The lantern, which is able to switch to a red light, can even be used to protect sea turtles and their eggs from poachers. You can find more inspiring examples on the project’s website: http://portablelight.org/